According to the ASEE publication Engineering by the Numbers, student retention and persistence to graduation are ongoing problems for engineering and engineering technology (ET) programs around the country. It is a well-established fact that the quality of interaction between a student and a concerned individual on campus, often through academic advising, is a key contributor to college retention. Over the years, academic advisors have developed effective advising strategies that research shows have positively impacted students' retention and their persistence to graduation. In this study, a national survey was conducted among academic advisors of ET programs in the USA. Results show that for ET students, retention and persistence to graduation are improved by personalized and caring advising, being proactive, keeping students focused on their plan of study, actively listening to students' complaints and concerns, acting on those concerns, and believing in the student. On the other hand, being passive, ignoring students' issues, embarrassing them on their academic struggles and limited knowledge about the curriculum and departmental procedures and practices are found to be the least effective. Overall, this study contributes to ET body of knowledge by providing ET academic advisors a set of best practices for student success. The findings of the study will also benefit ET faculty members, who directly or indirectly advise students, by sharpening their advising practices.

The purpose of this study was to determine if NCAA Division I-A football program success had a relationship to student-athlete graduation rates. Graduation rate data for 2001 were obtained from the NCAA and cumulative five-year records of selected NCAA Division I-A football programs determined winning percentage for the years 1996-2000. The data were examined by correlating the two variables of winning percentage and graduation rate. The findings show no significant correlation at a probability level of .05. The results of this study indicate the success of a football programs do not have any relationship to low football team graduation rates. Therefore, other factors such as athletic department ideals, commercialization of sport, or the preconceived notion that collegiate football athletes are only enrolled to compete in football may play a factor in graduation rates among NCAA Division I-A football players.

Schools in the United States have struggled with graduation rates for nearly 140 years. School divisions are continuously searching for new and creative curriculums to address changing student needs. From the U.S. Department of Education to local school board members, educators are working to discover creative and accountable alternatives to address these issues. Development of online programs continues to offer students some of the curriculum resources they need for success and provides an alternative way to approach instruction for school systems. Educators in Lee County are researching new policies and programs to assist students in obtaining their high school diplomas. Understanding perceptions of the administrative staff plays a key role in program development and implementation of programs for students. This qualitative case study addresses the particular issue of perception in relation to the implementation of a new form of instruction. By understanding staff perceptions education leaders can develop plans and procedures to address issues related to staff development and program implementation. The following set of policies and procedures were necessary for the online program: Each individual school needed the opportunity to use the program as they deemed necessary for student needs.The online program would be used as a secondary curriculum to assist students in the areas of dropout prevention, alternative education and credit recovery.Administrators provide consistency of the implementation to all students in the county.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the number of Career and Technical Education (CTE) graduates who go on to postsecondary education or some other training program, to the military, or to employment upon high school graduation was significant in comparison to the state baseline for secondary placement. This study further compared CTE graduation rates to overall graduation rates. The graduation rates were compared based on gender as well. School systems that provided CTE courses and that had CTE concentrators for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years were used for this study. Eight school districts were chosen in the upper east Tennessee region and were evaluated using graduation data and secondary placement data from the Tennessee Department of Education Report Card. The research cited in this study supported the supposition that CTE graduates do in fact help to increase the overall graduation rates for school districts. This study focused on five research questions and each null hypothesis was tested using a one-sample chi-square test. Results indicated that there were positive significant differences for CTE concentrators who proceed to postsecondary education, military, and employment as compared to the state baseline for secondary placement. The study further revealed that the graduation rate for Tennessee CTE concentrators was higher than the overall graduation rate for the selected school districts in this study. Positive differences were also noted between the sample CTE graduation rate and the overall Tennessee CTE graduation rate as well as between those rates and the overall Tennessee graduation rate for all students. Further analysis revealed that no significant differences existed between male CTE graduates and female CTE graduates. The research findings suggested that CTE graduation rates can help improve a school district's overall graduation rate.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a significant relationship exists between the implementation of the Morristown-Hamblen High School East (MHHSE) Freshman Academy, student academic achievement, and the high school graduation rate at MHHSE. The testing variables included GPA, attendance, number of core course failures, number of discipline referrals, English I End-of-Course test scores, and graduation rate. Grouping variables included 8th grade (pretreatment) and 9th grade (posttreatment) groups, preacademy and postacademy groups, socioeconomic status, and gender. Ten faculty members of the MHHSE Freshman Academy were interviewed to ascertain their perceptions about the smaller learning community concept. The population of the study was limited to students enrolled in the MHHSE Freshman Academy (2004-2008) and students enrolled at MHHSE 2 years prior to the implementation of the academy (2002-2004). Paired-samples t-tests were used to make comparisons between the same students on 8th grade (pretreatment) and 9th grade (posttreatment) measures. Independentsamples t-tests were used to make additional comparisons between different groups of students categorized according to socioeconomic status and gender, as well as preacademy and postacademy groups. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the 9th grade transition year is a very difficult year for most students. Male students and those classified as economically disadvantaged develop additional risk factors during their freshmen year that might identify them as potential dropouts. The MHHSE Freshman Academy has had a positive effect on student academic performance and conduct as measured by the data analyses and teacher opinions.

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As the United States struggles to be globally competitive with the number of students completing a college degree higher education leaders continue seeking answers to improving student retention and graduation rates. Decades of research has been conducted on investigating factors that impact student retention and graduation with the majority of that research being centered on student attributes and students’ precollege characteristics. Research has been limited on institutional characteristics and their associations with student retention and graduation rates. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the extent that specific institutional characteristics predict first-year, full-time, fall-to-fall retention rates and 6-year graduation rates. The sample for this study consisted of 4-year institutions in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) region that have been granted Level III accreditation status and also report data annually to the Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS). All data used for this research were publicly available archival data available from IPEDS. Sixteen research questions were investigated about institutional student variables, environment variables, resource variables, financial variables, and interaction variables. Multiple linear regressions were conducted for all research questions, representing the statistical method of analysis. The findings showed that the most useful predictors for retention rates were students scoring at or above the 75th percentile ACT scores, physical library collections, expenditures for academic support, and tuition and required fees. When investigating to what extent institutional characteristics predict 6-year graduation rates the findings showed that 75th percentile ACT scores, physical library collections, expenditures for instruction, the percentage of full-time faculty, and cost were the most useful predictors. Findings also showed that student-faculty ratios and the percentage of full-time faculty were not significant predictors for student retention. Some institutional predictor variables may be significant predictors for both retention rates and graduation rates, while other predictor variables may be significant predictors for only one of the criterion variables.

This research was a qualitative program evaluation of students' perceptions of Latinos in Action (LIA), a peer-mentoring program that seeks to improve high school Latino graduation rates and college admittance. The study was conducted with college students who participated in the program in high school. LIA graduates were interviewed to determine what major factors influenced and supported them in their academic decisions. Additional data included an interview with the program director, results from the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE), and a video of one of the interviewees. The researcher explored students' experiences in the LIA program with the goal of determining how the program impacted their goals to graduate from high school and attend college. While all of the students planned to attend college before participation in the program, they did not know how they would be able to get there. LIA provided the motivational support and the direction to help students get to college. In addition, all of the students mentioned parent support as a major influence. Other influences included positive peer support, a supportive high school teacher, school involvement, and being a role model for younger students.

[pt] A sustentabilidade é um tema cada vez mais debatido por cidadãos, assim como em ambientes acadêmicos, instituições governamentais e fóruns mundiais. O Design para Sustentabilidade, ainda que discutido há algumas décadas, não aparenta ser parte de requisitos no ensino em Design. Isto acontece, pois, a questão fica a cargo de apenas alguns professores; dependem do interesse dos alunos; ou até mesmo o ensino concentra-se somente nos aspectos ambientais. Sendo assim, esta pesquisa busca avaliar a inserção do ensino do Design para Sustentabilidade nos cursos de graduação em Design, no intuito de discutir possíveis melhorias na docência e aprendizado dos alunos. A dissertação inicia-se com um panorama geral das abordagens do Design para Sustentabilidade, que são debatidas atualmente em artigos, congressos e no próprio meio acadêmico. Com isso, pode-se observar que existe uma certa evolução na abrangência dos campos de atuação do design, passando do foco apenas em materiais para sistemas complexos integrados. Ainda, há uma observação do cenário atual do Design para Sustentabilidade nos cursos de graduação, com uma análise das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais, ensino e prática do Design nas salas de aulas; e uma avaliação do contexto atual do Design para Sustentabilidade nas universidades, através da investigação das disciplinas que abordam o tema. Por fim, foram feitas entrevistas com professores e questionários com alunos, a fim de descobrir possíveis relações entre o ensino e aprendizado na visão dessas duas classes. Com isto, verificou-se que o ensino da sustentabilidade no Design depende de professores interessados em difundir o tema, juntamente com alunos dispostos a debatê-lo; que ainda há pouca discussão sobre o tema em algumas universidades; que somente a teoria não incentiva os alunos a utilizarem as abordagens nos ofícios. / [en] Sustainability is a topic that is increasingly debated among citizens, academic environments, government institutions and world forums. Design for Sustainability, although discussed a few decades ago, does not appear to be part of requirements in design education. This happens, because, the question is up to only a few teachers to discuss; depends on the student s interests; or even the teaching focuses only on environmental aspects. Thus, this research seeks to evaluate the insertion of Design for Sustainability in undergraduate courses in Design, in order to discuss possible improvements in teaching and student learning. The dissertation begins with an overview of Design for Sustainability approaches, which are currently discussed in articles, congresses and in the academic environments itself. With this, it can be seen that there is a certain evolution in the scope of Design fields, moving from the focus only on materials to complex integrated systems. Still, there is an observation of the current Design for Sustainability scenario in undergraduate courses of Design, with an analysis of the National Curriculum Guidelines, teaching and practice of design in classrooms; and an evaluation of the current context of Design for Sustainability in universities, through the investigation of the disciplines that address the topic. Finally, interviews were made with teachers and questionaires with students, in order to discover possible relationships between the teaching and learning in the view of these two classes. With this, it was found that the teaching of sustainability in Design depends on teachers interested in disseminating the theme, along with students willing to debate it; that there is still little discussion about the theme in some universities; that only theory does not encourage students to use the approaches in projects.

This study examined the Summer Transition Program in a large suburban school district. One of the common concerns of education leaders is the number of students who choose to dropout of high school. The eighth to ninth grade Summer Transition Program has been implemented to address the high school dropout issue and was the focus of this study. The researcher examined if participation in the Summer Transition Program could be predicted by student subgroup, to what extent, if any, participation in the Summer Transition Program had on the academic success in Algebra I, and if there is a relationship with academic success in Algebra I and at-risk factors